[WSBAPT] Release of DSHS Real Property Lien

[Sarah McCarthy]

How interesting. Please reply to the list!

*Sarah O’Farrell McCarthy*


*(Pronouns: she / her)*Attorney | Kelly, Arndt & Walker, Attorneys at Law,
PLLP
P.O. Box 290 | 6443 Harding Avenue | Clinton, WA  98236

(Located on Whidbey Island, Island County, Washington)
Phone: (360) 341-1515 | Fax: (360) 341-3272
sarah at kawlawyers.com | www.kawlawyers.com


This electronic message transmission contains information from the law firm
of Kelly, Arndt & Walker, PLLP which may be confidential or privileged.
This information is intended to be for the use of the individual or entity
named above,  If you are not the intended recipient, be aware that any
further review, disclosure, printing, copying, distribution, or use of the
contents of this transmission is prohibited. If you have received this
electronic message transmission in error, please notify us immediately by
reply e-mail and delete the original message.  Thank you.



We do not accept service of any kind by e-mail unless expressly authorized
in writing by the attorney of record.  This e-mail is NOT a contract and is
not binding upon the author pursuant to CR 2A. This e-mail is, at most, a
negotiation under ER 408.


On Tue, Mar 8, 2022 at 1:09 PM Jake Seegmuller <jake at nwlegacylaw.com> wrote:

> Hello learned colleagues,
>
>
>
> We are assisting the surviving spouse (husband) administer the estate of
> their deceased spouse (wife). The primary asset of the deceased spouse’s
> estate is her community property interest in a home owned with the husband
> – both names on title. DSHS filed a Notice and Statement of Lien in October
> of 2020 for about $50k. Husband initiated probate proceedings and timely
> filed a Family Support Award to defeat some (or all) of the lien. A hearing
> was set and DSHS properly noticed. Later, DSHS circulated correspondence
> indicating that stated that they will release their lien without issue if
> the husband removes the wife’s name from the property through a deed
> transfer. The department specifically cited a “Lack of Probate Affidavit”
> as a mechanism by which to circumvent their lien and the would release it.
>
>
>
> I was not aware that DSHS would release the lien this easily. Have others
> had experience with this?
>
>
>
> This raises some interesting questions: If husband removes wife from title
> and the department releases the lien upon recording and delivery of a copy
> of the recorded deed to the department (as indicated in the letter), is the
> lien avoided? And can this claim follow husband or reappear at his death?
> Is there a potential the DSHS representative is misstating DSHS’s position
> on this?
>
>
>
> Thanks in advance for your insights on this.
>
>
>
> * Jakob O. Seegmuller*
>
>  Attorney
>
>  nwlegacylaw.com | 360-975-7770
>
>
>
>
> ***Disclaimer: Please note that RPPT listserv participation is not
> restricted to practicing attorneys and may include non-practicing
> attorneys, law students, professionals working in related fields, and
> others.***
> _______________________________________________
> WSBAPT mailing list
> WSBAPT at lists.wsbarppt.com
> http://mailman.fsr.com/mailman/listinfo/wsbapt
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/wsbapt/attachments/20220308/872dd1a5/attachment.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image001.png
Type: image/png
Size: 5666 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/wsbapt/attachments/20220308/872dd1a5/image001.png>